Tracker construction for mechanical music-playing instruments.



F. 0. WHITE. 7 TRACKER CONSTRUCTION FOR MEGHANIOAL MUSIC PLAYING INSTRUMENTS.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 8, 1910.

LFJ 2 L' 6 LY k f C WHIZZ,

, Patented Aug". 23, 1910.

of said bars being 4 .1 to which the pneumatic pipes, .of rubber, may be conveniently connected 6, by which the ends of the dcta'chably secured to the end-brackets 11 UNITED PATNT FFTCE.

FRANK CORN'WELL WHITE, 0F MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WILCOK 8r.

TU'EITE CQMPANY, OF MEBIDEN,

TRACKER CONSTRUCTION FOB MECHANICAL MUSIC-PLAYING CONNECTICUT, A CORPQRATION OF CONNECTICUT;

INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 23, 191th Application filed February 8, 1910. Serial No. 542,702.

Constructionfor Mechanical Music-Playing Instruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in tracker construction for pneumatic music playing instruments, the same being an improvement mainly upon my former patented construction set forth in U; S. Letters Patent, No. 939,178, of November 2, 1909.

My main object herein is to provide certain. improvements aiming at economy of construction and convei iience of assembling.

In the accompanying drawings-l igure 1 is an end elevation. of'my improved tracker construction; Fig. 2 is a cross section taken at a point between the end brackets, showing one of said brackets and certain other parts in elevation; Fig. 3 is a view 1 with certain parts detached; Fig. i is a detached detaihand Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of certain details of construction. l

1-1 are end brackets or supports.

22 are independenttracker bars, each provided with perforations in their up er faces to arrange to register with per orations' in a traveling note sheet. One of these perforations in bar 2 indicated at 3, Fig. 2, while one of the perforations inthe bar 2 is indicated at 3, Fig. 2. The bars 2,2* are provided respectively with short tubular extensions usually by being merely slippedover said short tubular extensions in the manner customary and well known in the art.

The bracket 1 is preferably provided with a laterally offset supporting shoulder 5,"

While the bracket 1 is provided with a corresponding supporting shoulder 5 these supporting shoulders being designed to supsaid supporting shoulders port the'bar'2 being tapped to receivefastenmg screws, one of which is indicated conventionally at tracker bars are The bars 22 when in place are spaced apart, as indicated in F gs. 1 and '2, and between them is located the anchored end of similar to Fig.

I on one side or the other of the an apron 7. The anchorage members for the apron comprise two separable and independent anchor strips 8S=, preferably made of wood, and to which the opposite for example, by glue. The middle portion carried by swinging levers l0l0 pivoted respectively to the brackets l-l" concentrically at 11. A tube 12, split longitudinally, may be slid 'over thebearing 9 to so embrace said bearing and that par-tot the apron thereon as to hold the latter smoothly in place, still permitting the bearingt to rotate in the apron so as to avoid the danger or" cutting. The edges of thesplit tube are preferablv rounded so as to provide a the hearing. The lever 10 is controlled by a spring ll, as shown in Figs. 1' and This spring 1% is anchored at 15 to the end plate 1 and is connected with lever 10, preferably by a link plate 16, which in turn is pivotally connected at 17 to an intermediate part of the lever 10, so that said lever will be held pivot center 11, thereby causing the apron 7 to rest snugly against and cover the upper surface of the bar 2 or 2 as desired, exposing the other for engagement by the traveling perforated note sheet conventionally shown at 18. The lever 10 is similar to lever 10. and is operated by a spring similar to spring 1i. In mechanical music playing instruments wherein it is customary to provide a tracker ing for two scales'known as the sixty-five note scale and the eighty-eight note scale, it is obvious that only one set of perforations can be used at a time, hence by throwing the apron '7 into position to cut oil one or the other row of perforations, the desired scale can be selected.

In manufacturing the parts the brackets 11 and the bars 2-2, together with their short projecting; tubes 4-4, economically constructed, so also said parts may be very economically assembled.

in assembling the parts, one of the bars, for example, 2, is secured at its ends to the bracket s'11 the apron 7 is then applied age strips, placed,-as shown in Fig. 3, to proyect under the tracker'bar 2, the other strip 8 is then brought down into i'osition edges of the apron may be firmly attached, r

of the apron passes around a bearing rod 9' non-cutting edgewhere the apron leaves device having perforations of different spacmay be very to the bearing 9, one of the angular anchor shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the second tracker bar 2* is secured to, the brackets 1l thus securing the two strips 88 against accidental displacement and thereby anchoring the apron at a point between the bars 2-2: Should any accident happen to the apron or should itbe desired to renew the same, it requires merely the removal of one of the bars 2-2 to permit the ready removal and renewal of this element, viz., the apron. It will be seen that the entire space between the brackets ll is available for receiving a multitude of air pipes or tubes which lead from the tubular extensions M to the co-acting parts, not shown, of the pneumatic mechanism.

Vhile in general operation after assembling the apparatus works in a manner corresponding to the operation set forth in my former patent, it will nevertheless be seen that structurall considered the present improvement embodies substantial features of superiority, aiming at economy of manufacture and simplicity andease of sembling.

What I claim is: 1. In combination, two independent rigidly mounted perforated tracker-boards, a

separate bracket supportfor each end of both bars, and movable means to close the upper ends of the perforations in either of said bars at will. u

2. In a tracker mechanism for auto-pneu-' matic playing instruments, two independent rigidly mounted perforated tracker bars, a

separate bracket support for each end of each bar, said bars being detachably connected thereto, a shiftable flexible apron anchored between said bars and means to shift the same into operative engagement with the upper surface of one bar or the other to close the perforations therein.

3. In a tracker mechanism for auto-pneumatic playing instruments, two independent rigidly mounted perforatedtracker bars, a separate bracket support for each end of each of said bars, a plurality of short tubular extensions in the lower side of each bar,

a flexible apron anchored at one edge between said bars, a shiftable support for the opposite edge of said apron, whereby the latter may be shifted to operably engage either one of said bars to close the perforations therein.

matic playing instruments, two stationary brackets spaced apart, two bars rigidly supported upon said brackets and means for independently secuiring said bars to said brackets, a flexible apron detachably anchored at one edge between said bars and means for shifting said apron from one bar to the other to close the perforations therein.

5. In a tracker mechanism for auto-pneumatic playing instruments, two stationary brackets spaced apart, two bars rigidly supported upon said brackets and *means for independently securing "said bars to said brackets, a flexible apron detaehably anchored at one edge between said bars and means for shifting said apron from one bar to the other, said, apron being of double thickness, a detachable anchorage including two separable and independent anchor strips, one part of said apron being secured to one strip and another part of said apron being secured to the other strip.

6. In a tracker mechanism for auto-pneumatic playing instruments, two stationary operative engagement with one bar to oper- I ative engagement with the other bar and vice versa, one part of said apron being anchored between said bars.

8. In a tracker mechanism'for auto-pneumatic playing instruments, two spaced brackets, two inde endent' tracker bars,

means for indepen ently connecting said .bars to said brackets, a. shiftable flexible apron and means to shift the same from operative engagement with one bar to operative engagement with the other bar and vice versa, one part'of said apron being detachably anchored between said bars.

FRANK CORNWVELL WHITE.

\Vitnesses:

L. A. KUHNLE, C. L. P11212011. 

